Ukraine are confident they can nullify the counter-attacking threat of Greece and claim a place at the World Cup by defeating Otto Rehhagel's team in the second leg of their qualifying play-off on Wednesday.

Alexei Mikhailichenko's men are in the driving seat ahead of the crunch match in Donetsk having kept the Greeks at bay in Saturday's goalless stalemate in Athens.

Although the omens favour his team - Ukraine defeated Greece to secure qualification for the 2006 World Cup - Mikhailichenko is aware of the danger posed by Rehhagel's troops.

"If you analyse the Greek national team matches for as long as Rehhagel is coach you can say they play with the same characteristics every time," said Mikhailichenko

"Greece bet on having a disciplined defence and looking for a chance to counter attack. They are quite right in playing like this and we need to be mindful of this.

"I believe that after the first-leg game away, we are closer to South Africa. However, our chances remain 50-50."

Mikhailichenko has intimated he expects his team to play more attacking football than in the first leg in order to try to win the match in normal time - and avoid the lottery of penalties.

Skipper Andriy Shevchenko, who operated more or less as a lone striker on Saturday, can expect more support from Artem Milevskiy and Oleg Gusev on home soil.

Mikhailichenko is without defender Grigoriy Yarmash who has a virus while fellow defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy is nursing a slight knock from the first leg but is expected to be fit.

Greece arrived in Donetsk wearing special masks as part of precautions as the swine flu health scare escalates across the country and Europe.

Ukraine shut schools, banned public meetings and restricted travel earlier this month in an attempt to combat the H1N1 flu epidemic, which has claimed 17 lives so far while 189 people have died in total from the flu outbreak.

All but three of Rehhagel's 22-man squad received a basic flu vaccination ahead of the trip.

Ukraine have not conceded a goal at home since June when Kazakhstan netted in a 2-1 defeat and Greece must score or win the game on penalties to secure qualification.

Rehhagel has come under fire in the Greek media for his defensive tactics in the first leg in Athens when he fielded a five-man defence including Socrates Papastathopoulos, who was given a man-marking job on Shevchenko.

The 71-year-old's gameplan failed to yield a goal but he is unlikely to change things for the return.

The Greece coach has fitness worries over Giorgos Karagounis and Sotiris Kyrgiakos, both of whom did not train with the main group yesterday.

Defender Giorgos Galitsios, who earned an emergency call-up - his first-ever for the senior national team - is optimistic that the Greeks can pull off a surprise.

"It's a great honour for any player to receive a call-up to the national team and I hope we can get the result which will take us to the World Cup," said the Olympiakos defender.